Call us to set up an appointment! 727-393-6100

Normal Degeneration Linked with Largo Spinal Stenosis

Normal degeneration of the spine may sound incongruous when discussing degeneration, but age encounters us all. Age generates degeneration normally. Our Largo chiropractic practice acknowledges and respects age for its effect on the spine and its influence in paraspinal muscle and disc degeneration. They go hand-in-hand. Hollstrom & Associates Inc treats them gently and successfully, especially when our patients do their part in keeping appointments, exercising, and taking supplements that can be beneficial. It is all part of the Largo chiropractic treatment plan!

NORMAL DEGENERATION: Age

Age. Not a topic we enjoy talking about, but age doesn’t mind. It keeps doing its thing. Age contributed much when comparing the fatty infiltration of muscle in normal people to that in patients with lumbar spinal stenosis who were matched for age, BMI, weight, etc. The paraspinal muscle changes in lumbar spinal stenosis patients and normal people were comparable. Degeneration of these muscles related to age was more noticeable in lumbar spinal stenosis patients especially in the multifidus muscles. (1) A radiographic study of degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis found age-related risk factors. Researchers wrote that greater intervertebral disc height and more severe vertebral endplate failure may trigger degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis due to the intensified mobility of the segment, progressing disc degeneration. Weakened paravertebral muscles may weaken lumbar spinal stability. (2) Truly, the spine and all its muscles are interconnected. Hollstrom & Associates Inc pays attention to them all, to their response to treatment, to their contribution in the pain.

BACK PAIN AND ITS PALS

Low back pain has associates. It brings with it degeneration, change, fat, imbalance and more. Researchers credited intervertebral disc degeneration as being the main cause of chronic low back pain. It is a common and recuring condition in spine surgery realms. Disc degeneration is related to disc inflammation. As we humans age, researchers pointed out that its bone marrow changes to bone marrow fat, triggering an inflammatory response in the disc and paraspinal muscles which play a role in spine stability. As the muscles fill with fat, low back pain changed to chronic. (3) In a study of patients with lumbar spinal stenosis and sciatica/leg pain, researchers described that lumbar degenerative diseases prompted paravertebral muscle degeneration with higher levels of intramuscular fat infiltration. Women’s paraspinal muscles were significantly reduced. The erector spinae muscle and multifidus muscle in older aged patients were noted to have more fat in them. (4) Hollstrom & Associates Inc appreciates that aging plays a role in back pain’s development, path, and treatment.

LESS IS MORE: Treating Aged Back Pain

Since researchers observed that with age comes fatty infiltration of paraspinal muscles and inflammatory responses in the disc, it is logical that doing less if back surgery is done would be sensible. A new study wrote that adding fusion to a decompression back surgery for lumbar spinal stenosis heightened the risk of new stenosis on an MRI two years later at the operated level or at an adjacent spinal level even when spondylolisthesis (a condition that one vertebra slipped on another one) was noted at surgery. (5) Less is more frequently when managing back pain. Gentler treatment can go far in reducing pain. That’s the motto of the CTFDD treatment plan at Hollstrom & Associates Inc: gentle spinal manipulation, gentle exercise, etc.

CONTACT Hollstrom & Associates Inc

Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. Joseph Beissel on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he describes the relief with The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management for a patient with chronic low back pain.  

Make your Largo chiropractic appointment now. There’s no avoiding age or its accompanying pal, degeneration. If disc degeneration and spinal muscle degeneration are now your pals, trust Hollstrom & Associates Inc to set you all on a path of healing. 

 
Largo degenerative spinal changes  
« View All Featured Articles
"This information and website content is not intended to diagnose, guarantee results, or recommend specific treatment or activity. It is designed to educate and inform only. Please consult your physician for a thorough examination leading to a diagnosis and well-planned treatment strategy. See more details on the DISCLAIMER page. Content is reviewed by Dr. James M. Cox I."